Advise on daily calorie requirements, please

Guinevere117

I am a female, aged 22, 5'6", and am between 116 and 118. I am a university student who does not have alot of time to workout in a gym (1-2, maybe more times a week). Most of my "exercising" is the the form of stretching and resistance training that can be done at home and lasts about 15-20 mins for maybe 2-3 times a day. I try to walk as much as possible - between classes in different buildings, etc, etc. I want to lose weight and get more toned (the toning, of course, is through strength training)
Anyway, my daily calorie requirements, as set by this site, are 1200. I have been reading around and many people say that 1200 cal is not enough, and going onto other sites in order to find a better calculation, I experience widely differing numbers as to how much to eat.
I was wondering whether someone could guide me in how many calories I should be eating or whether 1200 is ok. I do still get hungry (sometimes very much so...) on 1200 calories.....

Also, on Monday (1/14), I plan to overhaul my food consumption - eliminating stuff and adding stuff, so my dairy now does not necessarily reflect my eating for the future. Breaks from university always get the best of me.....

vanguardfitness

This is a pretty good calculator that I use:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

dfquigley

Generally speaking, you base metabolic rate ( bmr ) is the number of calories your body needs just to survive, and the approximation is about 10 calories per pound of body weight, so 1200 calories sounds about right for you.

That being said, once you start to do exercise, or if you have a job where you're moving around etc. you burn more calories above and beyond your bmr.

1200 calories is certainly enough to survive, but if you are exercising regularly, then to maintain your weight you will need to take in more calories, but if you are trying to lose weight you can afford to stick to 1200 calories on a light exercise regiment.

Calories burnt using resistance training can be hard to estimate, but if you're hungry and sluggish play with the numbers by a couple hundred calories to make up for your exercise and see what happens, everyone's metabolism is a bit different.

victoriajune1990

I was just talking to my mom about this earlier. She suggest, and a lot of others, that you eat less carbs and more protein. Protein keeps you full, and carbs wear off too fast. Try adding more veggies to your diet, and other things with more protein.
I'm going to be trying it myself. Because this 'starving' thing my body is doing, is really annoying v.v

Also, I noticed you said you were 5'6 and only weighed 114 pounds? Isn't that too small for you?
I'm 5'7 and my doctor says I shouldn't weigh below 150, but maybe you're built differently from me.

AnvilHead

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Lyadeia

I am a female, aged 22, 5'6", and am between 116 and 118. I am a university student who does not have alot of time to workout in a gym (1-2, maybe more times a week). Most of my "exercising" is the the form of stretching and resistance training that can be done at home and lasts about 15-20 mins for maybe 2-3 times a day. I try to walk as much as possible - between classes in different buildings, etc, etc. I want to lose weight and get more toned (the toning, of course, is through strength training)
Anyway, my daily calorie requirements, as set by this site, are 1200. I have been reading around and many people say that 1200 cal is not enough, and going onto other sites in order to find a better calculation, I experience widely differing numbers as to how much to eat.
I was wondering whether someone could guide me in how many calories I should be eating or whether 1200 is ok. I do still get hungry (sometimes very much so...) on 1200 calories.....

Also, on Monday (1/14), I plan to overhaul my food consumption - eliminating stuff and adding stuff, so my dairy now does not necessarily reflect my eating for the future. Breaks from university always get the best of me.....

I don't use the calculator on this site or I would starve. I need more than the measly 1200 calories it allots me.

If you know your body fat percentage, or at least a good approximation of it, Google the Katch-McArdle equation. That gave me the best round about number to aim for when I started out. I used the feedback loop of weekly trial and error from that point and have since found my personal sweet spot of 1650 calories. That amount lets me lose body fat at a pretty good pace. But we are all different which is why the calculators are only a starting point. You have to tweak them to see what your needs really are.